"Mary Quant" by Jenny Lister

 Because of lockdowns and travel restrictions I was unable to go to an exhibition I particularly wanted to see this year.  Happily, I was still able to buy the book which accompanied the exhibition!

  

Mary Quant (by Jenny Lister, with contributions by Johanna Agerman Ross, Beatrice Behlen, Regina Lee Blaszczyk, Susanna Brown, Elisabeth Murray, Janine Sykes and Stephanie Wood) was written to coincide with an exhibition held at the Victoria and Albert Museum between April 2019 and February 2020.  It moved to Bendigo Art Gallery in Victoria in 2021, which is where I would have seen it if I'd been able to travel.

Mary Quant needs no introduction: she was most famous designer to come out of Swinging London.  In fact she could be said to have inspired the entire look of the era.  Though she began her career in fashion design in the late 1950s and continued working in the field until the early 1970s, her name is almost synonymous with the 1960s.  Any pop-cultural history of the decade will have to give at least a mention to the originator of the "Chelsea look" and one of the creators of the miniskirt!

Jenny Lister follows Quant's career from her early days running a boutique in Chelsea through to her later years as a "lifestyle brand".  Quant did not originally set out to design clothes.  She sold other people's designs in Bazaar: "clothes and accessories ... sweaters, scarves, shifts, hats, jewellery and peculiar odds and ends" creating a look that was more modern and youthful than the styles then prevailing in post-war Britain.

When she did dip a toe into design, she began by adapting Butterick patterns and making up the garments herself using fabric purchased from Harrods!  From these amateurish beginnings Quant eventually had her clothes made by a small factory, which in turn lead to the development of "Mary Quant's Ginger Group" and a deal in the U.S. with JC Penney.  In the late sixties she began selling fashion accessories and makeup, all branded with her daisy logo.  Her last collection for her Ginger Group was in 1975 and her business subsequently concentrated on licensing cosmetics, tights and furnishings.

While Jenny Lister follows Mary Quant's career chronologically, the other authors of this book contribute essays exploring tangential aspects of her work in depth.  Thus Stephanie Wood contributes a chapter on the women who modelled her clothes, Susanna Brown one on how they were photographed.  Regina Lee Blaszczyk explores Quant's business dealings in America.  Beatrice Behlen discusses the history of Quant's cosmetic range—"young, no nonsense, problem-solving and easy to use".  Janine Sykes dives into how the range was marketed, and Johanna Agernon Ross contributes a chapter on Quant's ventures into interior design.

So much for the text.  However this book accompanied an exhibition, so what about the pictures?  Well, besides many excellent contemporary illustrations and photographs, this book contains some excellent pictures of Mary Quant's clothes held in the V&A.  Many of garments were donated specifically for this exhibition as the museum

"in June 2018 invited the the public to lend or donate specific garments as designed by Quant to enable the Museum to represent a more comprehensive range of her designs...  Each of these garments is enhanced with details about the original wearer and their social background, why Mary Quant designs were specially chosen at the time, and the reasons for treasuring the garments for so long.  Over 1,000 people responded offering Quant cosmetics and other memorabilia, some contributing photographs of Quant garments being worn at this time."

There isn't room to squeeze all the stories and photos contributed into this volume, but those that have made it into the book certainly make it a little bit special!

Mary Quant by Jenny Lister
ISBN 9781851779956
London: V&A Publishing, 2019

Man Made Fibres III: Crimplene (Vanity Fair, May 1962)

 Now for the latest in our series from Vanity Fair about "Man Made Fibres".  This time it's Crimpline!  It was launched in 1959 and (judging by the advertisements in my collection) was still comparatively rare in 1962.  It seems to have been most popular from the mid-sixties through to the early seventies when it was gradually replaced by newer polyester fibres.

Ladies Pride in "Crimplene" 1962

"'Crimplene'.  A Terylene yarn processed specially for knitting.

'Crimplene' is a synthetic yarn with high bulk and low stretch suitable for knitting.

You find it in jersey garments, knitted sweaters and cardigans, and knitting yarns.  It launders easily and never loses its shape."

"Dress in Season and In Reason" (Girl's Own Paper, October 27 1888)

"Our long and wintry summer has come to an end," writes "The Lady Dressmaker" in her October column for The Girl's Own Paper,

..."and we can only hope we may not be beginning a long and cold winter.  Very few people have had the courage to wear their summer dresses this season, and the things most generally seen have been thin woollens in their almost endless variety."

In spite of her wishes for a milder winter the author takes care to illustrate the "new" long cloaks,

.."as they are the latest idea, [but] I cannot be sure they will take the place of others; they are excellent wrap cloaks, most comfortable and warm.  Short jackets are being made in black and blue pilot cloth, and black and brown plush is being made into covert jackets, with large buttons covered in plush also."

(Covert jackets were originally designed for outdoor pursuits in the country: since the ones the "Lady Dressmaker" describes are made of plush, I suspect they weren't intended to be worn for field sports!)

For additional warmth she recommends gaiters, "already much worn... by women who are obliged to walk or prefer it to driving... I see," she continues

"that one of the most sensible of our writers, considers that in the gaiter lies the true solution of the "Dress Reform" question; for were these comfortable articles of dress once adopted, the need for divided skirts would be obviated, as both feet and legs could be protected to any extent..."

Well that's a relief!

The second illustration to this column is of what The Lady Dressmaker describes as "Empire dresses" (i.e. dresses of the Napoleonic era).  To modern eyes, there is no resemblance between these Victorian fashions and the original Empire styles:

As always in fashion columns of this era, some space is dedicated to the materials used to make up the styles described.  (After all, the readers would not be buying their clothes ready-made!)

"I must give a few words now to the new colours prepared for the winter season.  I think the generality of the cloths and materials seem to be either brown or green, but the tones are all rather mild, indeed, almost dull.  Stripes are again the ruling idea everywhere, the prettiest perhaps being those about two inches wide of two quiet contrasting colours.  Dark slate, black current, opium seed, as, stone colour, and lively drab are among the names I hear most frequently.  Virginia and Etruscan are the only two reds; the former is the dark shade of the Virginia creeper when turning in autumn; the latter is a kind of terra cotta."

Imagine a modern fashion writer describing the colours of the moment as "almost dull"!  As the article is illustrated only in black and white this detailed description is a boon to modern readers as well as its intended audience.  It not only enables us to visualise what these late 1880s costumes would have looked like, it also provides a useful guide for anyone wishing to date a garment from around this time.

Nehru Jackets (Lana Lobell, Fall 1968)

 Nehru jackets!  Named for India's first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, they featured mandarin collars and were modelled after traditional Indian coats.  They made their way into western wardrobes during the 1960s when (thanks to the James Bond film franchise) they became the garment of choice for aspiring supervillains.  However, Nehru jackets also became fashionable among less villainous trendsetters, being particularly popular with people in the arts and entertainment industries.  They were apt to turn up at awards ceremonies and on red carpets.  For example:

"Actor David Hemmings wore an elaborately frogged Nehru-style jacket when he accompanied his actress wife, Gayle Hunnicut, to the London premiere of "Oh, What a Lovely War.""

"What People Are Wearing Overseas" (Australian Women's Weekly, 14 May 1969)

While Nehru jackets were mostly worn by men, in the late 1960s they were also available for women.  The Fall 1968 "Lana Lobell" catalogue featured a number of  Nehru-styled outfits.  No doubt they thought they offered an exotic and glamorous touch to women's wardrobes.

"AT-HOME GLAMOR—the sweep of a sorceress jacket, the luxury of exquisite brocade!  The new Nehru, curved from its scintillating collar, self-buttoned in duos—sleek tapered pants side-zipped.  Divine in Cotton-Acetate brocade."

 

"THE "NEHRU" SUIT — exciting and elegant!  Note the dramatic jacket, its stand-up collar, its golden-gleam buttons—its figure-carving flare atop the reed-slim skirt.  Rich Coloray Rayon Knit, bonded to acetate.  Elastic-waist skirt.

"LONG AND LONGER goes the new Nehru-collared jacket—smart and smarter goes the swaggering suit that says "fashion!"  Lustrous Acetate Sharkskin bonded for shapekeeping—see the hip-top flaps, button-spiked sleeves. Skirt is very slender, elastic waisted."

"THE NEHRU JACKET—so divine with pants, so stunning with skirts that we give you one of each!  Glamor at home or on the town in a silken-sheen blend of Rayon-Acetate—the top curves from regal collar to siren slit hem, takes a march of color-keyed buttons.  Skirt and pants are slim-fitted—skirt with elastic waist, side-zip pants with slits that echo the jacket detail."

"THE NEHRU LOOK—done in a divine dress that' one smooth figure-following sweep from stand-up collar to A-line hem.  Rich honeycomb Orlon Acrylic, bonded to acetate—note the welt-stitched seaming, the hip-top tabs, the chic back vent!  Gleamy buttons to the hem for easy-on."